Free dental clinic serves hundreds on opening day

About 475 people received 2,761 free dental services valued at $335,700 Friday during the first day of the Iowa Mission of Mercy, according to preliminary figures from Lisa Russell, public relations representative for the Iowa Dental Foundation, which sponsors the event.

The large-scale dental clinic continues from 6 a.m. to 5 p.m. today at the Mid-America Center, 1 Arena Way. There are no restrictions based on income or insurance.

More than 200 people were waiting in line when the clinic opened at 6 a.m. Friday, Russell said.

“When I got here this morning – I got here around 5 – there was a line about three-quarters of the way around the MAC,” said Cary Jackson, dentist from Broadway Family & Cosmetic Dentistry. “Every chair that had a dentist was full pretty much the whole morning.”

The number of patients dropped off by mid-afternoon.

Jackson thought the patient numbers were similar to last year.

“I think Saturday is usually busier,” he said.

Patients came from as far away as Wisconsin, according to Brian Mykleby, an endodontist from Davenport volunteering at the event for the fourth year.

Patients came in need of a wide range of dental care, Jackson said.

“We’ve had anything and everything. There were people that only needed a cleaning, and then we had people with bone loss around the teeth that just needed to come out,” as well as some patients with infected teeth that had to be pulled.

“I see a lot of people with teeth that have been neglected for a lack of care,” said Mykleby, who performs root canals. “We can save most teeth, but not all. Our main objective is to get people comfortable, out of pain, and save some teeth. A common misconception is that we create pain, but we actually alleviate a lot of pain.”

Pamela Fixmer of Fremont, Nebraska, just came for a cleaning.

“It’s been three years since I’ve been to the dentist, so I thought I needed to come,” she said.

Fixmer is still covered under her parents’ insurance but is a full-time nursing student at Midlands University and also works, so it’s hard for her to make it to the dentist during office hours, she said. She didn’t mind the two-hour wait to be seen.

“Waiting is worth it,” she said.

Patients go through a medical triage to make sure they can be treated and a dental triage to determine their most urgent needs, then are sent to the appropriate section of the arena for care – from hygiene for cleanings to oral surgery for tooth extractions. There are pediatric dentists for children.

IMOM keeps records that can be sent to a patient’s regular dentist on request, Russell said.

“If they have an issue, they can call us and we can hook them up with a dentist in their area who has agreed to do the work.”

The phone number is included in a packet of information patients are given as they exit the arena, she said.

Patients should go to the south entrance at the MAC and are advised to allow plenty of time. Some areas may reach capacity well before the 5 p.m. closing time.

Source:http://www.omaha.com/news/goodnews/free-dental-clinic-serves-hundreds-on-opening-day/article_ba435ec2-5955-11e5-95b7-c72186d0922b.html

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